


News to me.

by caitlesshea



Series: It's SO Fluffy! [11]
Category: Animal Kingdom (TV)
Genre: Boyfriends, Coming Out, Confessions, Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-20 17:04:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17026662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caitlesshea/pseuds/caitlesshea
Summary: Deran & Adrian come out to a friend.





	News to me.

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by allthehearteyes. Thank you for EVERYTHING!

Where the hell is Adrian? He was just here, and he is  _ supposed  _ to be helping Deran set up the bar for the day.

 

“Babe?” Deran calls out from the back office. He waits a minute to see if Adrian responds. But it’s only crickets. Maybe he stepped outside? Wait, is that whispering? Who the hell is Adrian speaking to?

 

“Babe?” Deran tries again as he walks out front, “You were supposed to help me with the keg…,” Deran trails off, as he sees, finally, who Adrian is talking to.

 

“Colby,” Deran says. He’s not sure why Colby is here. And not because he threatened to shoot him if he ever showed up again. Not his finest moment. But, because after Colby told him about Ox, he didn’t think he’d ever see Colby again. Deran looks between Adrian and Colby, wondering why neither of them is saying anything. Adrian has a bemused look on his face, while Colby’s entire mouth is hanging open, with a look of shock on his face.

 

“Dude. You okay?” Deran asks Colby, who immediately shuts his mouth with a snap. Deran doesn’t know what is happening, so he turns to Adrian for help, but Adrian’s eyes are twinkling, so he doesn’t think he’ll be getting any help from him. 

 

Colby nods his head, then looks back and forth between Deran and Adrian a couple of times. Almost as if he is watching a tennis match.  _ What is his deal?  _

 

“You’re gay?” Colby finally asks.  _ Huh.  _ Well that would explain Adrian’s expression and Colby’s  deer in headlights look. Had Colby not known? And how did he finally put it together? He doesn’t think Adrian would’ve outed him, even on accident and he can’t remember saying any.. _ oh _ . He called Adrian “Babe” twice. The endearment just slipping out naturally. Well, no time like the present to be honest.

 

“Yeah,” Deran says and shrugs.

 

“And you’re together? Like a thing?” Colby asks both of them. Deran looks to Adrian, who just smiles at him, so he turns back to Colby, “Yeah. We’re together.” And damn, does that feel great to say. Especially to someone who’s not family. 

 

Colby’s just nodding, like a bobble head, and then he moves to sit down on a barstool. Almost like it took too much energy to stand.

 

“Since when?” Colby asks them both. 

 

“On and off since we were teenagers. But we recently moved in together,” Adrian answers as he smiles. Deran can’t help but smile back.

 

“Huh,” Colby says.

 

“You cool man?” Deran asks him, when it becomes clear to him that Colby isn’t going to say anything else.

 

“Yeah. Sorry man, this is just news to me,” Colby says as he shakes his head.

 

Deran nods. Because he understands that. He never said anything, never let on that he was gay or in love with Adrian, so he can see how this could come as a shock to someone. Although, apparently he wasn’t as stealthy as he thought, because Craig figured it out.

 

“All good,” Deran says. And it is. Whether or not Colby speaks to him again after this, doesn’t bother him. Hell, after Ox, he didn’t figure he’d see him again anyways. But, he is curious as to why he stopped by. And in the middle of the day, no less.

 

“So uh, whatya doing here?” Deran prods.

 

“Oh.. uh,” Colby says then shoots a look at Adrian.

 

Deran sighs, “He knows about Ox.”

 

“You told him?!” Colby practically hisses.

 

“Of course I did asshole. He’s my boyfriend,” Deran says, annoyed now. He feels Adrian’s calming hand come down on his arm. 

 

“I’m gunna grab beers. Colby, you want one?” Adrian asks. Bless him.

 

“Uh sure. Thanks man,” Colby says. Deran can see Adrian walking towards the office to grab beers from the mini fridge back there, instead of behind the bar they are sitting at. Probably to let Colby get whatever he came here for off his chest.

 

“Dude. What’s up?” Deran asks again.

 

“I uhh, saw Ox’s mom. Told her what happened,” Colby says. 

 

“What?!” Deran shouts, “Jesus. Why would you do that?”

 

“His PO came by the marina. I can’t have that shit man. I had to,” Colby says. 

 

“He came by here too, dude. You know that,” Deran says, giving Colby a look. Honestly, how could Colby be so stupid?

 

“She said she would handle it. And she did. Got a family doc to issue a death certificate saying he died down there, car accident or something,” Colby says, slightly upset. 

 

“I had to tell her man,” Colby says when Deran doesn’t say anything, “She deserved to know.”

 

Adrian comes back and sets everyone’s beers down. 

 

“You did the right thing,” Adrian says camly to Colby while giving a  _ hard _ look to Deran. Deran sighs. Adrian’s right, as much as he hates to admit it. Ox’s PO wasn’t going to drop this, and none of them could afford to have that guy snooping around looking for something he’d never find. 

 

“Thanks. She gave everything to the PO. Said he would tell the State,” Colby says as he drinks his beer. He feels for Colby. Ox was his friend too, but he was Colby’s best friend. And while Colby and Ox weren’t in love or even sleeping together, Deran knows if he ever lost Adrian he would lose his mind. He shivers at the thought. 

 

“I’m sorry man,”  Deran says to Colby. And he is. While Adrian has helped him see that Ox’s death was not his fault, he still can’t help but feel partially responsible. He keeps replaying those weeks in his head, and he wishes he was able to see the spiral that lead him to involve Colby and Ox, and make promises he couldn’t keep. He feels Adrian start to rub his arm, as if he knows what Deran’s thinking. He probably does. 

 

He sees Colby looking back and forth between the two of them again, eyes landing on where Adrian’s rubbing Deran’s arm. Colby looks up to meet his eyes, and he looks slightly uncomfortable. Deran doesn’t really care though. This is his bar, after all. 

 

“Thanks,” Colby finally says, “Uh. Happy for you guys,” Colby finishes as he gestures to Adrian and Deran. 

 

Deran nods his head, while Adrian smiles. 

 

“Can’t believe you were together all this time,” Colby says, “And neither of you said anything.”

 

Deran shrugs. Not entirely sure what to say. And not wanting to get into a history of their lives with anyone, much less with Colby. 

 

“We didn’t really say anything man. Kinda figured it out as we went along,” Adrian answers. Deran’s forever grateful that Adrian knows how to answer the hard questions. Deran squeezes Adrian’s hand. 

 

“Yeah. Something like that,” Deran says jokingly as he winks at Adrian. Adrian smiles back at him. 

 

“Yeah. I see it now,” Colby says as he gets up to leave, “Thanks for the beer, but I gotta get going. I’ll see you guys around.”

 

“Yeah man. You too,” Deran says as he walks him out. He turns around as he locks the door to the bar to see Adrian cleaning up their beers. 

 

“Thanks,” Deran says as he sits down on a barstool, “That was weird.”

 

“Yeah. A little,” Adrian shrugs. Deran looks at him, but Adrian’s not meeting his eyes and he’s got a weird look on his face. 

 

“I’m glad he came clean about Ox,” Adrian says. Adrian’s just standing behind the bar now, wiping a nonexistent mess down. Deran puts a hand on Adrian’s to stop his motions.

 

“Adrian?” Deran questions, “What’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing,” Adrian says as he shrugs.

 

“Not nothing,” Deran says, “You’re fidgeting.” Adrian immediately stops moving.

 

“It’s just,” Adrian says but doesn’t finish his sentence. Deran just nods, so Adrian can continue.

 

“It’s just.. you called me your boyfriend,” Adrian says quietly.  _ Oh _ . Yeah he did. That’s how he thinks of Adrian. Did he get it all wrong? Maybe Adrian doesn’t see him that way. That would suck, but he’d be okay. He doesn’t think he could go back to being fuck buddies or whatever they were before. He doesn’t get a chance to ask because Adrian’s reassuring him already. 

 

“I didn’t mind, D,” Adrian says as he grabs Deran’s hand, “Kinda thought we were anyways,” he says as he shrugs. Deran just smiles.

 

“Yeah?” Deran asks. 

 

“Yeah,” Adrian answers. 

 

Deran squeezes Adrian’s hand and leans up against the bar to kiss him. Boyfriends. He likes the sound of that. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
